Holidaze for worker elves

Tomorrow, will you be stuck in your office all day, with only a lunch break? Or maybe you’re playing hooky and shopping in Union Square?

Either way, you should stop by the La Cocina Gift Bazaar. This is the 4th year for the food incubator’s holiday gift show, and the first time it is taking place at Crocker Galleria, conveniently located at the Montgomery BART/MUNI stop. It was a great show last year, and if you have any food-lovers on your Christmas or Hannukah list, this is your one stop shop. Say hi!

 

 

Look before you buy

Steve and I will be vending our hearts out this weekend at Bazaar Bizarre San Francisco. Come by and say hello. An exciting addition this year is the food pavillion, organized by Forage SF. Should be some tasty, locally made food-type things there. Uh, yeah. Oh, and my mom will be there. She’ll be the one hiding behind our art.

Saturday and Sunday, December 1 + 2
11AM – 6PM
Concourse Exhibition Center, SF
FREE

 

Gather ye around the meat tree …

There’s still time to save on presents for your art, booze, or meat loving friends and family.

If you’re on my newsletter (and you should be) you got notice this morning that we’re having  one day sale at Drywell Art. Check out my snazzy new shop and enter code CYBERMEATDAY to save 20% on your order.  And the aforementioned snazzy new shop also contains brand new prints from my Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ show!

 

And now for something more meaty…

For the carnivores out there, here are some of the snazzy meat pieces available right now at Pot + Pantry. (I secretly hope the ribs + floss never sells, because it is my favorite).

Ribs + Floss

"Ribs + Floss" 8.5 x 11 original watercolor and ink painting, framed and archival matted in 11 x 14 frame. $175

 

Country Ham + Glass of Bourbon

"Country Ham + Glass of Bourbon" 8.5 x 11 original watercolor + ink painting, framed and archival matted in 11 x 14 frame. $175

 

nice sausage + dry rub my meat

6 x 6 watercolors of hot link and BBQ rib on mounted watercolor blocks. $100 each

 

Retreat to Move Forward

Took a break from the activities at Camp Mighty this weekend to do a little actual work. But when work involves drinking a Mirror Pond Pale Ale and sketching in the Amigo Room at the Ace, it’s not so bad.

 

 

Get your meaty, boozy art for the holidays, right here!

Wall of papercuts

Thank you to everyone who came out to my show opening and Pot + Pantry‘s 2nd anniversary party last Friday night! TONS of people showed up and chowed down on free Sneaky’s BBQ (my favorite in the city) and Double Robot Brewing beer (thanks Pete and Steve!). If you came and I missed you … it was because I was in the hospital with my pneumonia-ridden husband. Don’t worry; he’s well on his way to recovery now, and even had a beer last night.

Speaking of beer, the original pieces from “Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ” are still up at Pot + Pantry and available for purchase until December 8th. Every year around the holidays, I get tons of requests for original pieces, so I finally listened. These pieces are all framed or ready-to-hang, so they really are perfect for gift giving to the food and booze lovers out there.

Look out for some posts here in the next 2 weeks with peeks of the art, or just head down to Pot + Pantry and check them out in person! And if you’d like to see some of the process pics behind these pieces, check out some of my Instagram pics here.

"Beer Me" papercut. Custom float-framed in shadowbox. Available. $250

Each of the papercuts is cut by hand with an X-Acto knife from archival black paper. I then nearly had a nervous-breakdown float mounting them between two panes of glass. The piece is finished with a custom made shadow box behind. The floating effect is pretty amazing, and because of the offset shadow box, the pieces cast really rad shadows throughout the day. Check out Donna’s Instgram pic here for an example. Oh, and they are each topped off with a UV pane of glass, so no fading folks!

There are also six 8.5 x 11 original watercolors, all matted up and framed in 11x 14 black frames. Awesome, right? yes.

"Beer + Pretzel = Yes" Framed 8.5 x 11 original watercolor. $175

 

"Bourbon + Empty Glass" 8.5 x 11 watercolor, matted, in 11 x 14 frame. $175

wash down that BBQ …. with clean water.

Hey folks! Consider this a refreshing commercial break in the booze and bbq onslaught….

Wait. That doesn’t look refreshing at all.

As many of you know, this summer, I attended the very humble-sounding World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon. (My post is here) Among the many amazing speakers was Scott Harrison, founder of Charity:Water. You many have already heard of Charity:Water, and the amazing strides they have taken to fulfill their mission of providing clean drinking water to communities around the world. What is so impressive about them to me is how they have found a way to make the issue of clean drinking water salient and personal. I mean, check out this ad they did with Jennifer Connelly.

 

From someone formerly in the public interest field, another incredibly important point for me is that they keep their programs and operations funds entirely separate. What does that mean? Every donation you make ONLY goes towards their programs … not for their salaries, not for holiday parties, and not for office rent. Only to the water programs. If you know anything about the non-profit world, you know how rare and important that is.

And there’s always the questions of accountability … how can you tell what progress they’ve made?

They’ve simply made it all public, via Google Maps, where you can see the completed water projects, here. Pretty amazing, right?

This weekend, I’ll be attending yet another conference, Camp Mighty. Part of the goal of the conference is to raise $20,000 for Charity:Water … before the conference even starts … by harnessing the power of the bloggers and creatives attending the conference.

I know there are many other worthy causes in need of assistance right now, but if you have anything to spare, I’d greatly appreciate a donation to Charity:Water in my name.

Where will your money go, you ask? Let me tell you:

Donations are tax deductible, and you can just include my name on the donation page. Any amount helps. You can use a credit card- it’s really easy and fast!

Just click here: http://mycharitywater.org/go-mighty

Let me know if you have any other questions, and I really appreciate anything at all you can give!

Whatcha drinkin’?

If it’s beer or bourbon, you’re awesome. Also, you’re drinking a ton of grains.

New art, available at Pot + Pantry, starting Friday! I couldn’t get a great shot of them all framed and pretty, but rest assured, they are all framed up and pretty. (black 11 x 14 frame, with white mat, if you’re curious.)

bourbon picto shoot

“Bourbon Pictogram” – 8.5 x 11 watercolor and ink on watercolor paper.

 

beer picto

“Beer Pictogram” – 8.5 x 11 watercolor and ink on watercolor paper.

Sometimes math is fun.

Like when it involves meat and beer.

Here are two new pieces, going up at Pot + Pantry on Friday for my new solo show.

ribs shoot © Alyson Thomas

 

beer pretzel © Alyson Thomas

Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ

After a whirlwind trip to Mexico, it has been heads down art-making over here for my newest solo art show, “Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ.” (The best things in life, right? Riiiiiiight?)

Expect meaty and boozy watercolors, drawings, and papercuts. All original. All new. All awesome.

The opening reception this Friday is also a party celebrating the second anniversary of the adorable kitchenware shop, Pot + Pantry, owned by my good friend Donna. Come check out the boozy and meaty art while drinking beer specially brewed for the occasion and chowing down on my favorite BBQ in the city, Sneaky’s BBQ.

Stay tuned for some sneak peeks of the arts. (I’ve already been posting some on instagram, since I joined the 21st century and got an iphone. You can follow me at @ilovedrywell.)